Ascent Trip Report

Backpacking trip in May and we caught dangerous weather. We had hoped to see the new federal wilderness area of Lone Peak Wilderness and do Lone Peak but - We got snow, hail and rain and the cross slopes were icey and exposed. Without crampons the trail was very dangerous. REI in Salt Lake would not allow us to rent crampons for the trip! In addition the summit area was covered in snow. A TH sign near the top was burried in 4 feet of snow. A large storm came in with intense winds (I would guess 60-70 mph gusts). After going as high as we felt safe it was time to bolt down to safety. There was nowhere to pitch camp on the side of the steep slopes so we found the the most downward snow packs and carved out a flat spot to lay tents. Tents were flipped upside down on us even with them tied with parachute chord to nearby trees. We abandoned the trip and did not summit and instead camped safely down by the reservoir the second night. We awoke to snow that looked like dipping dots. Hiking out it was thick sleet, rain and snow back to our car. We then found a nearby spelunking adventure and cave explored instead.